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I’ve been tagged by the lovely Rebecca at The Beesley Buzz blog to write about Lent and what it means to me by answering 10 questions in a blog post. As I’ve not written about Lent before I thought I’d join in, especially as this year we’re doing something a little different as a family that I’m quite excited about. There’s 10 questions so feel free to read as many or as few as you like.

I came across this gem of a book last year but discovered it too late in December to tell you all about it. If you haven’t already done your Christmas shopping this is a wonderful present for anyone who has a faith or loves poetry – or both.

The book is a collection of 25 poems and accompanying reflections on the people and events surrounding Jesus’ birth, designed to be read either each day of Advent or over the Christmas period. Each poem is written with deep imagination, literary flair, often with an unexpected twist, and always throwing new light on stories we all think we know too well. Continue reading →

Last week I had the privilege of spending a day wandering around the galleries of London’s Royal Academy of Arts. To celebrate a friend’s birthday, we treated ourselves to visit the current exhibition ‘Painting the Modern Garden’, a specially curated collection of paintings by 20th century artists whose subject was ‘the garden’. Although there were a whole range of paintings and styles from many familiar and less familiar artists, the main draw was the collection of paintings by the great impressionist, Claude Monet, some of which had never been seen before in Europe.Continue reading →

Today is the day that my Swiss friend Brigitte is being laid to rest in a small Swiss town, after succumbing to the ravages of pancreatic cancer last week. She was only 43. Her 3 children aged 14, 11 and 8, and her British husband remain.

All of us who knew them whilst they lived here in St Albans are lost for words. The rain outside today reflects how we feel inside. Continue reading →

All my life, I’ve wanted to sing in a gospel choir. And at the ripe age of 43 years and 135 days, just this last Sunday I realised that dream.

You may wonder why I’ve always wanted to sing hallelujah with a bunch of loud, swaying, robe-wearing singers. Well, I love singing, I love rhythm, I’m quite loud, and I love Jesus, so it kind of makes sense really. I’ve had a love of all things African for many years, and although they don’t sing gospel in the parts of Africa I know, African exuberance lies at the heart of this soulful music. Also, I spent a few too many years learning and performing classical, stand-very-still-while-you-sing-and-do-exactly-as-its-written-on-the-paper music. Gospel music throws that in air with a leap of joy. Continue reading →